The present invention generally relates to the field of mechanics and more precisely to a device for protecting against impact an electrical connector for supplying high-voltage power to an electrical power train.
Indeed, conventional motor vehicles, i.e. combustion-powered vehicles, have various safety devices for limiting the risks to the driver and the passengers thereof in the instance of impact. Electric vehicles, which are less popular, benefit from the same devices but also require other protective mechanisms, particularly against the electrical risks in the instance of impact. The connectors for the high-voltage supply lines of the electrical power train of such a vehicle must particularly be protected.
The U.S. Pat. No. 7,484,581 discloses a protective mechanism for such a connector in the case of impact. This mechanism consists of support arms for fixing, to the chassis of an electric vehicle, both the inverter powering the power train thereof, and the electrical connector of the inverter. Therefore, in the case of impact, the deformation of the chassis produces an identical translation movement for the inverter and the connector thereof. The high-voltage line at the output of the inverter is therefore not disconnected from the inverter, limiting the electrical risks for the vehicle driver and the passengers thereof.
However, this protective mechanism is not sufficiently strong in the case of a violent frontal impact on the vehicle, particularly if the inverter is incorporated on the motor unit of the vehicle, since the weight of this motor unit would make it move back independently of the deformation of the chassis if such a frontal impact occurred. This protective mechanism does not, therefore, allow flexibility in terms of architecture of the electric vehicle, with the inverter having to be hooked to the chassis for this mechanism to function. This constraint is particularly inconvenient when the aim is to limit the spatial requirement of the power electronics modules associated with the power train of the vehicle.